More councils step closer to PFI waste funding

With much criticism coming from the waste sector at the moment on the sluggish pace with which PFI waste projects are being developed, minister Joan Ruddock insisted the projects announced today would deliver “major waste infrastructure to help reduce the amount of England's waste ending up in landfill”.

The successful authorities announced today were:

• Norfolk county council
• Milton Keynes council & Northamptonshire county council
• Gloucestershire county council
• Essex county council & Southend borough council
• Leicestershire county council
• Lincolnshire county council
• Staffordshire county council

These authorities will now have to submit Outline Business Cases by 30 April 2008 laying out their proposals for PFI waste contracts. If approved, the schemes will be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union in Autumn 2008, Defra said.

Mrs Ruddock said: “Each of these projects plans to deliver major waste infrastructure to help reduce the amount of England's waste ending up in landfill. This reduction is an essential part of the drive to tackle climate change and meet the UK's landfill targets.”

Two further projects – the North London Waste Authority, and Plymouth city council together with Devon county Council and Torbay county council – could also join this round of the PFI scheme, Defra said, if they can get business cases in by the same April 2008 deadline.

Yesterday at the “Waste and Recycling – What Next?” conference in London, the Environmental Services Association warned that the UK is “extremely far behind” in getting the waste infrastructure it needs to divert waste from landfill.

ESA chief executive Dirk Hazell spoke of his surprise that only one PFI waste contract had been signed so far this financial year. That contract was the Shropshire Waste Partnership, which agreed terms with contractor Veolia (see letsrecycle.com story).

Mr Hazell said: “The deal flow is pitiful – for a sector that needs to deliver £11 billion of new infrastructure it is incredibly slow.”

Defra said today that the closing date for councils issuing expressions of interest for the last PFI awarding round of the current Comprehensive Spending Review period is March 31, 2008. This will see PFI credits awarded to successful councils in the winter of 2008/09.

A further £2 billion will be on offer under the next Review period with £280 million available for 2007/08, £600 million in 2008/09, £700 million in 2009/10 and #700 million in 2010/11, the Department said.

Current applications for PFI credits must have a recycling rate equal to, or in excess of, the national target of 50% by 2020.